Judaism

"The Hebrew religion encompasses the philosophic transition from polytheism to monotheism; it is an evolutionary link between the religions of evolution and the religions of revelation. The Hebrews were the only western people to follow their early evolutionary gods straight through to the God of revelation."

Gnosticism

Gnosticism (after gnôsis, the Greek word for "knowledge" or "insight") is the name given to a loosely organized religious and philosophical movement that flourished in the first and second centuries CE. The exact origin(s) of this school of thought cannot be traced, although it is possible to locate influences or sources as far back as the second and first centuries BCE, such as the early treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum, the Jewish Apocalyptic writings, and especially Platonic philosophy and the Hebrew Scriptures themselves.

A one-time only event of local universe significance occured on this planet August 21, 7 B.C. A Paradise Creator Son was born a mortal flesh and blood man among men. He grew, became increasingly aware of who he was and his mission to be played out on this world, but for the whole local universe of his making. With authority and grace he showed God to man, and man to God, unapologetically correcting the misguided and manipulative concepts preached in the Temple.

The Temple masters were not pleased with this interloper pointing out the corruptions of their teachings and its lucrative control over the people, but when he turned over the tables of their moneychangers they went balistic and nailed him to a cross on April 7, 30 A.D.

It's worth mentioning, as part of his mission Christ gave Notice to all within his domain:
"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" John 14:9
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6
"Surely I come quickly." Revelation 22:20

Theology

Theology is the study of religions. Reality Roars specifically treats Judaism and Christianity and their respective apocrypha and pseudipigrapha, the gnostic writings, the Sumerian contributions and some of the "other" writings you may find of interest.

All history, all law and all civilizations began with religion. Take some time each day to read the writings you haven't read or revisit the ones that intrigue you the most. Your knowledge and intellectual preception of all subjects is critical to the wisdom of all creation.

Eurasia

"Asia is the homeland of the human race ... born in the highlands of what is now Afghanistan ... persisted for over one-half million years. Here the Sangik peoples differentiated from the Andonic stock, and Asia was their first home, their first hunting ground, their first battlefield." UB 79:0.1

America

In 1775, the Revolutionary War between the colonies and Britain started. On July 4, 1776, people from the thirteen colonies created the United States Declaration of Independence that said they were free. The Americans won the war and then the battle for freedom really began.

Going Where DarwinFeared to Tread

War Is A Racket

Communism's45 Goals

Science

There always exists the danger that the purely physical scientist may become afflicted with mathematical pride and statistical egotism, not to mention spiritual blindness. Matter and spirit and the state intervening between them are three interrelated and interassociated levels of the true unity of the real universe. UB 133:5

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and their societies. Its main subdivisions are social and cultural anthropology, describing the workings of societies, linguistic anthropology, investigating the influence of language in social life, and biological or physical anthropology, concerned with the development of the human organism.

Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of human activity, the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology is both a social science and a branch of the humanities. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history.

Going Where DarwinFeared to Tread

ArdipithecusRamidus

Human GenomeProject

Money

"For the love of money is the root of all evil," said Paul to Timothy.

"He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation." -James A. Garfield

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.” -James Madison

“The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.” The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863.

Secrets

"The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings." -John F. Kennedy

Opposed we may be, but that doesn't stop The Controllers from practicing such repugnant behavior. We have so many secret societies it makes a head spin ... secret agencies, secret governments, secret laws, secret money, secret handshakes ... secret everything that has to do with that self-chosen class of elites hell-bent on owning it all — the planet, the atmosphere, outer space and everything in, on, or near those locations. If it moves, breathes, or has mass, they want to own it. That especially includes you and me, my darlin's. Can't have any freewill on the loose causing problems for the totalitarian New World Order (NWO). Acronym that backwards (OWN) and have a stroke! -Gail Bird Allen

Power

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." -Thomas Jefferson

"Knowledge is power." -Francis Bacon

"Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best." -Edward Abbey

"To enjoy privilege without abuse, to have liberty without license, to possess power and steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement—these are the marks of high civilization." UB 48:7.8

"Jesus had a perfect grasp of the situation; he possessed unlimited power, which might have been utilized in the furtherance of his mission, but he was wholly content with means and personalities which most people would have regarded as inadequate and would have looked upon as insignificant. He was engaged in a mission of enormous dramatic possibilities, but he insisted on going about his Father's business in the most quiet and undramatic manner; he studiously avoided all display of power." UB 138:6.5

Conspiracy

1. An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act.
2. A group of conspirators.
3. Law. An agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.

"If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. Silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It’s the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones, the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle. Conspirators have a logic and a daring beyond our reach. All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who find coherence in some criminal act." -Don DeLillo (b. 1926), U.S. author. Libra, pt. 2, “In Dallas” (1988)

"When the final roll was called, the corporeal members of the Prince's staff were found to have aligned themselves as follows: ... Nod and all of the commission on industry and trade joined Caligastia ("the devil")." UB 67:4.1

"The evil one concluded that the only hope for success lay in the adroit employment of suitable persons belonging to the upper strata of the Nodite group, the descendants of his onetime corporeal-staff associates." UB 75:2.3 ...and that explains how the CABAL was born.

Disabuse yourself of the idea that governments, corporations and NGO's do not engage in conspiracy for power and profit ... conspiracy was bred in the bed of capitalism. -Gail Bird Allen

History of The Urantia Book

Several members of this group who participated in the preliminary "contacts" which led up to the appearance of the Urantia Papers, had had considerable experience in the investigation of psychic phenomena. This group early arrived at the conclusion that the phenomena connected with the personality, who was later associated with the Urantia Papers, was in no way similar to any other well-known type of psychic performance - such as hypnosis, automatic writing, clairvoyance, trances, spirit mediumship, telepathy, or double personality.

It should be made clear that the antecedents of the Urantia Papers were in no way associated with so-called spiritualism -- with its seances and supposed communication with spirits of departed human beings.

Unique to The Urantia Book

The Urantia Book presents approximately 1000 concepts covering theology, science, history, philosophy, cosmology and others. Of these concepts there have been 64 identified as unique to The Urantia Book and presented for the first time on our planet.

Millions of other inhabited planets
Scores of different celestial personalities
Evolutionary origin of humankind and the physical realms
Intimation of multiple Creator Deities
"The First Source and Center" and "Havona"
"superuniverses" and "the Supreme Being"
"Master Spirits" and "outer space"
"Power Directors" and numerous orders of angels
"Thought Adjusters" (the spirit within)
The morontia level of existence
The Lucifer rebellion...

Revelation

The religious tendencies of the human races are innate; they are universally manifested and have an apparently natural origin; primitive religions are always evolutionary in their genesis. As natural religious experience continues to progress, periodic revelations of truth punctuate the otherwise slow-moving course of planetary evolution. UB 103:0.2

There have been many events of religious revelation but only five of epochal significance. These were as follows:The Dalamatian teachings. The true concept of the First Source and Center was first promulgated on Urantia by the one hundred corporeal members of Prince Caligastia' s staff.The Edenic teachings. Adam and Eve again portrayed the concept of the Father of all to the evolutionary peoples.Melchizedek of Salem. This emergency Son of Nebadon inaugurated the third revelation of truth on Urantia.Jesus of Nazareth. Christ Michael presented for the fourth time to Urantia the concept of God as the Universal Father, and this teaching has generally persisted ever since.The Urantia Papers.UB 92:4.4

The Urantia Book

The Urantia Book is a revelation given to our world by a commission of celestial personalities authorized and tasked to the mission by the Ancients of Days who rule over the seventh superuniverse that our world, named Urantia by the celestial administration, is part of. Over a twenty plus year period in the early 1900's this group of celestial personalities made contact with two prominent doctors, Dr. William Sadler and his wife Dr. Lena Sadler, that eventually culminated in The Urantia Book.

...except for contacts with the midwayers, no two contacts were alike. Seldom did we meet the visiting personalities more than once. Every contact was entirely different from any and all that had gone before. And all of this experience was an extensive and liberal preparatory educational training in the expansion of our cosmology, theology and philosophy..." Dr. William Sadler

Evolutionary religion is sentimental, not logical. It is man's reaction to belief in a hypothetical ghost-spirit world—the human belief-reflex, excited by the realization and fear of the unknown. Revelatory religion is propounded by the real spiritual world; it is the response of the superintellectual cosmos to the mortal hunger to believe in, and depend upon, the universal Deities. Evolutionary religion pictures the circuitous gropings of humanity in quest of truth; revelatory religion is that very truth. UB 92:4.3

Parts of the book

Read The Urantia Book

Although I leave breadcrumbs throughout the site to intice my visitors to read The Urantia Book it is best read from start to finish. I promise, you will know more about the physical and celestial realms than 98% of the world population.

This group of papers was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek revelatory director.
The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.

The Mission

The mission of RealityRoars.com is first to bring together a collection of material to support what is really going on in our world as opposed to what we're told is going on, and second to collect all the evidence I can find supporting the concepts presented in The Urantia Book about our world, the cosmos it's a part of and the celestial realm that oversees and upholds all of it.

Subjects of Focus

There are several 'ingredients' in the reality recipe that are brought together in pursuing the whole pie. The first is theology as religion was/is the first civilizer of man. The second is history as the events of the past explain the present and indicate the future. The third is science as we have to know about new discoveries and developments and their affects on our lives. The fourth is conspiracy as that seems to be the modus operandi of that arrogant group of self-appointed totalitarian rulers currently holding the reins of our world. Fifth is The Urantia Book as it is truly the ultimate whipped cream topping.

Why It's Important

I firmly believe that what we don't know will and does hurt us. The policy makers of this world count on us not knowing because if we don't know, we aren't concerned, and if we aren't concerned we don't speak up — and that's exactly the way they want it. I also firmly believe that everyone should be informed in order to make sound and intelligent decisions for themselves and their families. Everyone's intellect is critical to the smooth and moral working of the whole.

I try to learn something new everyday and I hope you do too.

About

Welcome to RealityRoars.com! With me it's all about knowing everything about everything that piques my interest. As it happens I'm interested in a variety of subjects and I've never been afraid of research and reading. I gladly share my findings with you here.

I'm the seventh-great niece of three signers (Ross, Read and Wilson) of the Declaration of Independence, two of them (Read and Wilson) also signing The Constitution for the united States of America and one of them (James Wilson) being a Framer and Founding Father as well as one of the first Supreme Court justices appointed by George Washington. I blame them for any political outrage or hissy fit I may throw in response to the aggregious criminal conspiracy infecting our freedoms, our fortunes and our pursuit of happiness. I'm convinced it's an inherited familial trait.

Contact Form

This 400th anniversary edition of the King James Version of the Bible is a reprint of the 1611 text, in an easy-to-read roman font instead of the black-letter type of the original. The original capital letters, many of which are pictorial, have been restored to each chapter in order to replicate the visual appeal of the early editions.

The 1611 text is followed page-for-page and line-for-line, and all misprints are reproduced rather than corrected. The large body of preliminary matter, which includes genealogies, maps, and lists of readings, is also included. The text of the 1611 edition differs from modern editions of the King James Version in thousands of details, and this edition is the most authentic version of the original text that has ever been published.

The volume concludes with an essay by Gordon Campbell on the first edition of the King James Bible.

About the Author

Gordon Campbell is Professor of Renaissance Studies, Department of English at the University of Leicester

The most esteemed body of books left out of the Bible, the Old Testament Apocrypha is of interest to historians, religious scholars, and ordinary laypeople alike. For more than 70 years this version, edited by R.H. Charles, has been the definitive critical edition. Out of print for years, Apocryphile Press is proud to make it available once more to scholars and the curious.

Of all the books left out of the Bible, only the Apocrypha rivals the Pseudepigrapha in popularity and importance. This edition of the Pseudepigrapha was edited by R. H. Charles and was the definitive critical edition for over 70 years.

Love

Love is truly contagious and eternally creative. (p. 2018) “Devote your life to proving that love is the greatest thing in the world.” (p. 2047) “Love is the ancestor of all spiritual goodness, the essence of the true and the beautiful.” (p. 2047) The Father’s love can become real to mortal man only by passing through that man’s personality as he in turn bestows this love upon his fellows. (p. 1289) The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master’s teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust. (p. 2065)

Prayer

Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. (p. 1002) The sincerity of any prayer is the assurance of its being heard. … (p. 1639) God answers man’s prayer by giving him an increased revelation of truth, an enhanced appreciation of beauty, and an augmented concept of goodness. (p. 1002) …Never forget that the sincere prayer of faith is a mighty force for the promotion of personal happiness, individual self-control, social harmony, moral progress, and spiritual attainment. (p. 999)

Suffering

There is a great and glorious purpose in the march of the universes through space. All of your mortal struggling is not in vain. (p. 364) Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation. (p. 556)

Angels

The angels of all orders are distinct personalities and are highly individualized. (p. 285) Angels....are fully cognizant of your moral struggles and spiritual difficulties. They love human beings, and only good can result from your efforts to understand and love them. (p. 419)

Our Divine Destiny

If you are a willing learner, if you want to attain spirit levels and reach divine heights, if you sincerely desire to reach the eternal goal, then the divine Spirit will gently and lovingly lead you along the pathway of sonship and spiritual progress. (p. 381) …They who know that God is enthroned in the human heart are destined to become like him—immortal. (p. 1449) God is not only the determiner of destiny; he is man’s eternal destination. (p. 67)

Family

Almost everything of lasting value in civilization has its roots in the family. (p. 765) The family is man’s greatest purely human achievement. ... (p. 939)

Faith

…Faith will expand the mind, ennoble the soul, reinforce the personality, augment the happiness, deepen the spirit perception, and enhance the power to love and be loved. (p. 1766) “Now, mistake not, my Father will ever respond to the faintest flicker of faith.” (p. 1733)

History/Science

The story of man’s ascent from seaweed to the lordship of earthly creation is indeed a romance of biologic struggle and mind survival. (p. 731) 2,500,000,000 years ago… Urantia was a well developed sphere about one tenth its present mass. … (p. 658) 1,000,000,000 years ago is the date of the actual beginning of Urantia [Earth] history. (p. 660) 450,000,000 years ago the transition from vegetable to animal life occurred. (p. 669) From the year A.D. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years. (p. 707) About five hundred thousand years ago…there were almost one-half billion primitive human beings on earth. … (p. 741) Adam and Eve arrived on Urantia, from the year A.D. 1934, 37,848 years ago. (p. 828)

From the Inside Flap

What’s Inside?

Parts I and II

God, the inhabited universes, life after death, angels and other beings, the war in heaven.

Part III

The history of the world, science and evolution, Adam and Eve, development of civilization, marriage and family, personal spiritual growth.

Part IV

The life and teachings of Jesus including the missing years. AND MUCH MORE…

Excerpts

God, …God is the source and destiny of all that is good and beautiful and true. (p. 1431) If you truly want to find God, that desire is in itself evidence that you have already found him. (p. 1440) When man goes in partnership with God, great things may, and do, happen. (p. 1467)

The Origin of Human Life, The universe is not an accident... (p. 53) The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. (p. 21) The evolutionary planets are the spheres of human origin…Urantia [Earth] is your starting point. … (p. 1225) In God, man lives, moves, and has his being. (p. 22)

The Purpose of Life, There is in the mind of God a plan which embraces every creature of all his vast domains, and this plan is an eternal purpose of boundless opportunity, unlimited progress, and endless life. (p. 365) This new gospel of the kingdom… presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (p. 1778)

Jesus, The religion of Jesus is the most dynamic influence ever to activate the human race. (p. 1091) What an awakening the world would experience if it could only see Jesus as he really lived on earth and know, firsthand, his life-giving teachings! (p. 2083)

Science, Science, guided by wisdom, may become man’s great social liberator. (p. 909) Mortal man is not an evolutionary accident. There is a precise system, a universal law, which determines the unfolding of the planetary life plan on the spheres of space. (p. 560)

Life after Death, God’s love is universal… He is “not willing that any should perish.” (p. 39) Your short sojourn on Urantia [Earth]…is only a single link, the very first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the eternal ages. (p. 435) …Death is only the beginning of an endless career of adventure, an everlasting life of anticipation, an eternal voyage of discovery. (p. 159)

About the Author

The text of The Urantia Book was provided by one or more anonymous contributors working with a small staff which provided editorial and administrative support during the book's creation. The book bears no particular credentials (from a human viewpoint), relying instead on the power and beauty of the writing itself to persuade the reader of its authenticity.

One of the world's foremost experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community that produced them provides an authoritative new English translation of the two hundred longest and most important nonbiblical Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, along with an introduction to the history of the discovery and publication of each manuscript and the background necessary for placing each manuscript in its actual historical context.

This definitive edition of THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY is the only complete, one-volume, English-language edition of the renowned library of fourth-century manuscripts discovered in Egypt in 1945 It includes the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and other Gnostic gospels and sacred tests. First published in 1978 and revised, expanded, and updated in 1999, THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY launched modern Gnostic studies and exposed a movement within Christianity whose teachings are in many ways – as bestselling author Elaine Pagels has shown – as relevant today as they were centuries ago. This edition takes into account recent developments in Gnostic scholarship, including the significance of the Gospel of Thomas as a source of the authentic sayings of Jesus. The translators include such prominent scholars as Elaine Pagels, Marvin Meyer, Helmut Koester, and Bentley Layton. The Chicago Theological Seminary Register called it “A tremendous achievement”.

From the Back Cover
This collection of apocryphal texts supersedes the best-selling edition by M. R. James, which was originally published in 1924, and regularly reprinted. Several new texts have come to light since 1924 and the textual base for some of the apocrypha previously translated by James is now more secure, as in several cases there are recently published critical editions available. Although a modest appendix to James's edition was added in 1953, no thorough revision has previously been undertaken. In this volume, J. K. Elliott presents new translations of the texts and has provided each of them with a short introduction and bibliography directed to those who wish to pursue further the issues raised in the texts, or to consult the critical editions, other versions, or general studies. The translations are in modern English, in contrast to James's deliberate imitation of the language of the Authorized Version. The collection is designed to give readers the most important and famous of the Christian apocrypha, together with a select sample of gnostic texts. Full translations of the earliest texts are printed.

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared a person would get nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon than by any other book. While considering ways of making the precepts of this divine book more readily available to the reader, a distinguishing format was devised to isolate the doctrinal precepts and at the same time render this rather complex volume of scripture more comprehensible for reading and pondering. Not one word, letter or even a punctuation mark of the actual text has been deleted or altered in the process. Only the formatting has been enhanced by adding wider margins for notes, two type sizes, and spaces between textual subdivisions. These contextual enhancements are designed to help the reader more readily visualize the context, speaker and doctrine of the Book of Mormon narrative.

This edition of the Book of Mormon divides the text into 214 events or episodes. An event-based approach provides an alternate way to read the scripture text without the obvious intrusion of verse and chapter breaks which can obscure the narrative as it was originally written or even the continuity of doctrinal discourses. Short text headings in the margins indicate names of speakers, chronological dates, locational information and other scriptural references. These marginal annotations allow the reader to quickly and consistently place the Book of Mormon historical narrative within space and time.

About the Author

Starting in the 1980s as a father and son team we developed and helped the Church publish the first online edition of the scriptures. Parallel to that project we considered ways to isolate the doctrinal precepts by reformatting the scriptures for easier reading and pondering. We also investigated ways to go beyond merely searching electronically for words in the text. We quickly discovered this reformatted edition emphasizing events rather than chapters was our preferred way to study.

More than a decade in the making, A New Approach to Studying the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has been our labor of love. We are ever mindful of the long line of record keepers from Ether to Nephi to Mormon to Joseph Smith who have made this edition possible. We express appreciation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for providing a license to publish the text of the 2013 edition of the scriptures.

We add our testimony to the millions before us that The Book of Mormon is a true account of the Nephite, Lamanite and Jaredite people, and its translation came by gift and power of God. We also testify The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and contains the gospel doctrines of salvation that lead to joy and happiness.

Lynn A. Rosenvall

David L Rosenvall

Paperback: 720 pagesPublisher: Olive Leaf Foundation (August 1, 2017)

The Book of Abraham

From: The book of Abraham originated with Egyptian papyri that Joseph Smith translated beginning in 1835

First published in 1842 and canonized as part of the Pearl of Great Price in 1880

CHAPTER 1

Abraham seeks the blessings of the patriarchal order—He is persecuted by false priests in Chaldea—Jehovah saves him—Origins and government of Egypt reviewed.

1. In the land of the aChaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, bAbraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of cresidence;

2. And, finding there was greater ahappiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of brighteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great cknowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many dnations, a prince of peace, and edesiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a fHigh Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.

3. It was aconferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the bfirstborn, or the first man, who is cAdam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.

4. I sought for mine aappointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the bfathers concerning the seed.

5. My afathers, having turned from their righteousness, and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, unto the worshiping of the bgods of the cheathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice;

6. For their ahearts were set to do bevil, and were wholly turned to the god of cElkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt;

7. Therefore they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the aheathen in offering up their children unto these dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my blife by the hand of the priest of Elkenah. The priest of Elkenah was also the priest of Pharaoh.

8. Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women, and children.

9. And it came to pass that the priest made an offering unto the god of Pharaoh, and also unto the god of Shagreel, even after the manner of the Egyptians. Now the god of Shagreel was the sun.

10. Even the thank-offering of a child did the apriest of Pharaoh offer upon the altar which stood by the hill called Potiphar’s Hill, at the head of the plain of Olishem.

11. Now, this priest had offered upon this altar three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of aHam. These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not bbow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians.

12. And it came to pass that the priests laid violence upon me, that they might slay me also, as they did those virgins upon this altar; and that you may have a knowledge of this altar, I will refer you to the representation at the commencement of this record.

13. It was made after the form of a bedstead, such as was had among the Chaldeans, and it stood before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, and also a god like unto that of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

14. That you may have an understanding of these gods, I have given you the fashion of them in the figures at the beginning, which manner of figures is called by the Chaldeans Rahleenos, which signifies hieroglyphics.

15. And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord ahearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately bunloosed my bands;

16. And his voice was unto me: aAbraham, Abraham, behold, my bname is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy cfather’s house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange dland which thou knowest not of;

17. And this because they have turned their ahearts away from me, to worship the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; therefore I have come down to bvisit them, and to destroy him who hath lifted up his hand against thee, Abraham, my son, to take away thy life.

18. Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee.

19. As it was with aNoah so shall it be with thee; but through thy ministry my bname shall be known in the earth cforever, for I am thy God.

20. Behold, Potiphar’s Hill was in the land of aUr, of Chaldea. And the Lord broke down the altar of Elkenah, and of the gods of the land, and utterly destroyed them, and smote the priest that he died; and there was great mourning in Chaldea, and also in the court of Pharaoh; which Pharaoh signifies king by royal blood.

21. Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the aloins of bHam, and was a partaker of the blood of the cCanaanites by birth.

22. From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the aCanaanites was preserved in the land.

23. The land of aEgypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;

24. When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.

25. Now the first agovernment of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.

26. Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that aorder established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the bblessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.

27. Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of aPriesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain bclaim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;

28. But I shall endeavor, hereafter, to delineate the chronology running back from myself to the beginning of the creation, for the arecords have come into my hands, which I hold unto this present time.

29. Now, after the priest of Elkenah was smitten that he died, there came a fulfilment of those things which were said unto me concerning the land of Chaldea, that there should be a afamine in the land.

30. Accordingly a famine prevailed throughout all the land of Chaldea, and my father was sorely tormented because of the famine, and he repented of the evil which he had determined against me, to take away my alife.

31. But the arecords of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the bplanets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this crecord, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.

CHAPTER 2

Abraham leaves Ur to go to Canaan—Jehovah appears to him at Haran—All gospel blessings are promised to his seed, and through his seed to all—He goes to Canaan, and on to Egypt.

1. Now the Lord God caused the afamine to wax sore in the land of Ur, insomuch that bHaran, my brother, died; but cTerah, my father, yet lived in the land of Ur, of the Chaldees.

2. And it came to pass that I, Abraham, took aSarai to wife, and bNahor, my brother, took Milcah to wife, who was the cdaughter of Haran.

3. Now the Lord had asaid unto me: Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.

4. Therefore I left the land of aUr, of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and I took Lot, my brother’s son, and his wife, and Sarai my wife; and also my bfather followed after me, unto the land which we denominated Haran.

5. And the famine abated; and my father tarried in Haran and dwelt there, as there were many flocks in Haran; and my father turned again unto his aidolatry, therefore he continued in Haran.

6. But I, Abraham, and Lot, my brother’s son, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord aappeared unto me, and said unto me: Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a bminister to bear my cname in a strange dland which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice.

7. For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in aheaven; the earth is my bfootstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my cchariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.

8. My aname is Jehovah, and I bknow the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.

9. And I will make of thee a great anation, and I will bbless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and cPriesthood unto all nations;

10. And I will abless them through thy name; for as many as receive this bGospel shall be called after thy cname, and shall be accounted thy dseed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their efather;

11. And I will abless them that bless thee, and bcurse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy cseed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this dright shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

12. Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has asought thee earnestly; now I have found thee;

13. Thou didst send thine angel to adeliver me from the gods of Elkenah, and I will do well to hearken unto thy voice, therefore let thy servant rise up and depart in peace.

14. So I, Abraham, departed as the Lord had said unto me, and Lot with me; and I, Abraham, was asixty and two years old when I departed out of Haran.

15. And I took Sarai, whom I took to wife when I was in Ur, in Chaldea, and Lot, my brother’s son, and all our substance that we had gathered, and the souls that we had awon in Haran, and came forth in the way to the land of Canaan, and dwelt in tents as we came on our way;

16. Therefore, aeternity was our covering and our brock and our salvation, as we journeyed from Haran by the way of cJershon, to come to the land of Canaan.

17. Now I, Abraham, built an aaltar in the land of Jershon, and made an offering unto the Lord, and prayed that the bfamine might be turned away from my father’s house, that they might not perish.

18. And then we passed from Jershon through the land unto the place of Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreh, and we had already come into the borders of the land of the aCanaanites, and I offered bsacrifice there in the plains of Moreh, and called on the Lord devoutly, because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation.

19. And the Lord aappeared unto me in answer to my prayers, and said unto me: Unto thy seed will I give this bland.

20. And I, Abraham, arose from the place of the altar which I had built unto the Lord, and removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of aBethel, and pitched my tent there, Bethel on the west, and bHai on the east; and there I built another caltar unto the Lord, and dcalled again upon the name of the Lord.

21. And I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards the south; and there was a continuation of a famine in the land; and I, Abraham, concluded to go down into Egypt, to sojourn there, for the famine became very grievous.

22. And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord asaid unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;

23. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say—She is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:

24. Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.

25. And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto me—Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my asister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.

CHAPTER 3

Abraham learns about the sun, moon, and stars by means of the Urim and Thummim—The Lord reveals to him the eternal nature of spirits—He learns of pre-earth life, foreordination, the creation, the choosing of a Redeemer, and the second estate of man.

1. And I, Abraham, had the aUrim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees;

2. And I saw the astars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;

3. And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is aKolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

4. And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its atimes and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a bday unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand cyears according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s dtime, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

5. And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or agreater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

6. And the Lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these atwo facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night.

7. Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest.

8. And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still;

9. And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one aplanet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same border as that upon which thou standest.

10. And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.

11. Thus I, Abraham, atalked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;

12. And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.

13. And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

14. And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will amultiply thee, and thy bseed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the cnumber of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds.

15. And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I ashow these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words.

16. If atwo things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore bKolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me.

17. Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will ado it.

18. Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two aspirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are bgnolaum, or eternal.

19. And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am amore intelligent than they all.

20. The Lord thy God sent his angel to adeliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah.

21. I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the aworks which my hands have made, wherein my bwisdom excelleth them all, for I crule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.

22. Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the aintelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the bnoble and great ones;

23. And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast achosen before thou wast born.

24. And there stood aone among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and bwe will make an earth whereon these may cdwell;

25. And we will aprove them herewith, to see if they will bdo all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26. And they who akeep their first bestate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second cestate shall have dglory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

27. And the aLord said: Whom shall I bsend? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And canother answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will dsend the first.

28. And the asecond was angry, and kept not his first bestate; and, at that day, many followed after him.

CHAPTER 4

The Gods plan the creation of the earth and all life thereon—Their plans for the six days of creation are set forth.

1. And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the aGods, borganized and formed the cheavens and the earth.

2. And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and adarkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods bwas brooding upon the face of the waters.

3. And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.

4. And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was abright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.

5. And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called anight; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night.

. And the Gods also said: Let there be an aexpanse in the midst of the waters, and it shall divide the waters from the waters.

7. And the Gods ordered the expanse, so that it divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so, even as they ordered.

8. And the Gods called the expanse, Heaven. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and this was the second atime that they called night and day.

9. And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the awaters under the heaven be gathered together unto bone place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered;

10. And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, aGreat Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.

11. And the Gods said: Let us prepare the earth to bring forth agrass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and it was so, even as they ordered.

12. And the Gods organized the aearth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.

13. And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time.

14. And the Gods organized the alights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years;

15. And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

16. And the Gods organized the two great lights, the agreater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also;

17. And the Gods set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to cause to divide the light from the adarkness.

18. And the Gods watched those things which they had aordered until they obeyed.

19. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time.

20. And the Gods said: Let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life; and the fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven.

21. And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great awhales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good.

22. And the Gods said: We will bless them, and cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas or agreat waters; and cause the fowl to multiply in the earth.

23. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and it was the fifth time.

24. And the Gods prepared the earth to bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so, as they had said.

25. And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth the beasts after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and the Gods saw they would obey.

26. And the Gods took acounsel among themselves and said: Let us go down and bform man in our cimage, after our likeness; and we will give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27. So the aGods went down to organize man in their own bimage, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them.

28. And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29. And the Gods said: Behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it; yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it; it shall be for their ameat.

30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold, we will give them life, and also we will give to them every green herb for meat, and all these things shall be thus organized.

31. And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and they numbered the asixth time.

CHAPTER 5

The Gods finish their planning of the creation of all things—They bring to pass the creation according to their plans—Adam names every living creature.

1. And thus we will finish the heavens and the earth, and all the ahosts of them.

2. And the Gods said among themselves: On the seventh time we will end our work, which we have counseled; and we will arest on the bseventh time from all our work which we have counseled.

3. And the Gods concluded upon the seventh time, because that on the seventh time they would arest from all their bworks which they (the Gods) counseled among themselves to form; and csanctified it. And thus were their decisions at the time that they counseled among themselves to form the heavens and the earth.

4. And the Gods came down and formed these the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were formed in the day that the aGods formed the earth and the heavens,

5. According to all that which they had said concerning every plant of the field before it was in the aearth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Gods had not caused it to rain upon the earth when they counseled to do them, and had not formed a man to till the ground.

6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7. And the aGods formed man from the bdust of the ground, and took his cspirit (that is, the man’s spirit), and put it into him; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living dsoul.

8. And the Gods planted a garden, eastward in aEden, and there they put the man, whose spirit they had put into the body which they had formed.

9. And out of the ground made the Gods to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the atree of life, also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10. There was a river running out of Eden, to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads.

11. And the Gods took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.

12. And the Gods commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

13. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now I, Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord’s atime, which was after the time of bKolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning.

14. And the Gods said: Let us make an help meet for the man, for it is not good that the man should be alone, therefore we will form an help meet for him.

15. And the Gods caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and they took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;

16. And of the rib which the Gods had taken from man, formed they a awoman, and brought her unto the man.

17. And Adam said: This was bone of my bones, and aflesh of my flesh; now she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man;

18. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall acleave unto his wife, and they shall be bone flesh.

19. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not aashamed.

20. And out of the ground the Gods formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever aAdam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.

21. And Adam gave anames to all bcattle, to the fowl of the air, to every beast of the field; and for Adam, there was found an chelp meet for him.

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The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, the result of more than ten years of research and preparation, provides Bible students with a comprehensive and reliable library of information. Varying viewpoints of scholarship permit a well-rounded perspective on significant issues relating to doctrines, themes, and biblical interpretation. Well-organized and generously illustrated, this encyclopedia will become a frequently used resource and reference work because of its many helpful features: - More than 5,000 pages of vital information of Bible lands and people - More than 7,500 articles alphabetically arranged for easy reference - Hundreds of full-color and black-and-white illustrations, charts, and graphs - Thirty-two pages of full-color maps and hundreds of black-and-white outline maps for quick perspective and ready reference - Scholarly articles ranging across the entire spectrum of theological and biblical topics, backed by recent archaeological discoveries - Two hundred and thirty-eight contributors from around the world. The editors have brought to this encyclopedia the fruit of many years of study and research.

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And here is mystery: The more closely man approaches God through love, the greater the reality -- actuality -- of that man. The more man withdraws from God, the more nearly he approaches nonreality -- cessation of existence. When man consecrates his will to the doing of the Father's will, when man gives God all that he has, then does God make that man more than he is.

"And do you not remember that I said to you once before that, if you had your spiritual eyes anointed, you would then see the heavens opened and behold the angels of God ascending and descending? It is by the ministry of the angels that one world may be kept in touch with other worlds, for have I not repeatedly told you that I have other sheep not of this fold?"

But we know that there dwells within the human mind a fragment of God, and that there sojourns with the human soul the Spirit of Truth; and we further know that these spirit forces conspire to enable material man to grasp the reality of spiritual values and to comprehend the philosophy of universe meanings. But even more certainly we know that these spirits of the Divine Presence are able to assist man in the spiritual appropriation of all truth contributory to the enhancement of the ever-progressing reality of personal religious experience—God-consciousness.

When you are through down here, when your course has been run in temporary form on earth, when your trial trip in the flesh is finished, when the dust that composes the mortal tabernacle "returns to the earth whence it came"; then, it is revealed, the indwelling "Spirit shall return to God who gave it." There sojourns within each moral being of this planet a fragment of God, a part and parcel of divinity. It is not yet yours by right of possession, but it is designedly intended to be one with you if you survive the mortal existence.

And the greatest of all the unfathomable mysteries of God is the phenomenon of the divine indwelling of mortal minds. The manner in which the Universal Father sojourns with the creatures of time is the most profound of all universe mysteries; the divine presence in the mind of man is the mystery of mysteries.

To every spirit being and to every mortal creature in every sphere and on every world of the universe of universes, the Universal Father reveals all of his gracious and divine self that can be discerned or comprehended by such spirit beings and by such mortal creatures. God is no respecter of persons, either spiritual or material. The divine presence which any child of the universe enjoys at any given moment is limited only by the capacity of such a creature to receive and to discern the spirit actualities of the supermaterial world.

Paradise is the eternal center of the universe of universes and the abiding place of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, the Infinite Spirit, and their divine co-ordinates and associates. This central Isle is the most gigantic organized body of cosmic reality in all the master universe. Paradise is a material sphere as well as a spiritual abode. All of the intelligent creation of the Universal Father is domiciled on material abodes; hence must the absolute controlling center also be material, literal. And again it should be reiterated that spirit things and spiritual beings are real.

Culture presupposes quality of mind; culture cannot be enhanced unless mind is elevated. Superior intellect will seek a noble culture and find some way to attain such a goal. Inferior minds will spurn the highest culture even when presented to them ready-made.

True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings.

How dare the self-willed creature encroach upon the rights of his fellows in the name of personal liberty when the Supreme Rulers of the universe stand back in merciful respect for these prerogatives of will and potentials of personality! No being, in the exercise of his supposed personal liberty, has a right to deprive any other being of those privileges of existence conferred by the Creators and duly respected by all their loyal associates, subordinates, and subjects.

There is no error greater than that species of self-deception which leads intelligent beings to crave the exercise of power over other beings for the purpose of depriving these persons of their natural liberties. The golden rule of human fairness cries out against all such fraud, unfairness, selfishness, and unrighteousness.